LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Fire Protection District competed with a number of fire districts around the region in the seventh annual Bucket Brigade Blood Drive Challenge, placing second for its effort.
The event, which began late last year, brought in more than 800 donors and 700 units of life-saving blood, according to Blood Centers of the Pacific.
The flu and weather impacted December and January collection efforts, but the blood drives by the various fire districts helped the blood bank maintain an adequate blood supply.
Windsor Fire Protection District took first place for the fourth straight year with 134 donors, followed by Lakeport Fire with 110 donors.
Geyserville Fire Protection District and Healdsburg Fire Department tied for third place, with each bringing in 75 donors.
Cal Fire Petaluma/Wilmar Volunteer Fire Department placed fourth with 73 donors, with Sebastopol Fire Department’s 70 donors earning it fifth place.
Thanks to efforts like these, Blood Centers of the Pacific provided more than 100,000 pints of blood to patients last year throughout the 50 Northern California hospitals it serves – including all Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino county hospitals.
Over the past week, patients who received blood included a 12 year old boy and a 3 year old boy with leukemia, a 30 year old man with lymphoma, a 19 year old girl with cystic fibrosis, an infant girl with respiratory failure, a 9 year old girl with heart failure, a 28 year old woman who needed fetal transfusion and a 20 year old male with a heart defect.
For more information about Blood Centers of the Pacific and how you can help visit www.bloodheroes.com .